Pandora's Box
by nekopyon
Summary: Everyone's heart is like a box with a lock, emotions and secrets locked inside it. Aria, or better known as IA, has long thrown away the golden key to Pandora's Box - her own heart. Even she herself forgets about it, leaving her near emotionless. Someone finds this key, but will he be brave and curious enough to open and unbind the chains of Pandora's Box - IA's locked heart?
1. Chapter 1

**Well, another fic from me...This was supposed to be for my english exam, but I found the plot rather interesting, so I decided to expand it! And, uh, the pairing was decided by my friend, since I couldn't decide. **

**First chapter coming right up!**

* * *

"_Papa, Mama! I wanna eat that!" Five-year-old Aria pointed to the delicious-looking beef in the cooking show, bouncing up and down on the soft couch._

"_I'll try to cook that, Aria, dear," Her mother answered, a gentle smile crinkling her eyebrows, while her father watched in amusement as Aria's brother ruffled his sister's blonde hair, which had a slight silver and pink tinge to it. _

_The outside was quiet and tranquil, broken only by occasional shouts of joy from the far hill where all the other villagers had gone to celebrate. Being outsiders in the small village, Aria's family had stayed behind. They didn't follow the village traditions._

_Aria squealed as her brother suddenly tickled her and ran into her room, her brother hot on her heels. All of a sudden, a short and sharp rap on the door broke the high-pitched voice of the cooking show host. _

_Before Aria's father could even shout 'Come in!', the wooden door was kicked open and men in black suits barged in, the man in front holding a pipe. Aria peeked out from behind her door, only to catch a glimpse of a weird symbol, before her brother's strong arms lifted her up. _

_He tiptoed to the trapdoor on the ceiling, and opened it, lifting Aria into the secret attic, meant only for emergencies._

"_Brother, what's-__" Aria was cut off by her brother. He smiled._

"_Aria, shhh. Don't make any noise, okay?" He whispered to her before closing the door, leaving Aria in confusion and darkness, with only some faint beams peeking out from the cracks in the wooden floor. _

_Just then, a gunshot rang throughout the house. She crept over to where one of the faint beams shone, bent down and peeked through it, staying as quiet as possible, as told by her brother._

_She saw something that would be etched in her young mind forever. _

_Her father was lying in a pool of blood. More blood still trickled from the bloody hole in his head, where he was shot. Her mother was begging, crying for her son – Aria's brother – to be spared, only to be ruthlessly kicked aside and shot mercilessly by one of the black-clothed men. Her blood splashed onto the shaking boy who was collapsed against the now blood-red wall._

_Without saying anything, the man who was holding the pipe grabbed Aria's brother and dragged him away, into the pitch-black night, ignoring his screams-_

* * *

IA gave a loud gasp, and woke up. It had been...quite a long time since she had that nightmare, that same nightmare that had haunted her ever since..._it_ had happened.

The girl reached up to her forehead, and found that it was covered with a thin layer of sweat. Without even seeing, she knew that she was covered with sweat and hyperventilating. Exhaling, she reached down to her sweat-drenched covers and threw it off her bed. She would have no more need for it anymore, since it was wet and provided her no more protection against the cold blasts of the air-con. Grumbling softly, the girl opened her closet and reached for another layer of blankets.

* * *

"IA, wake up."

Yawning, she waved her hands in an attempt to chase the annoying voice away and snuggled deeper into her bed.

"IA, wake up now," The voice was getting louder and seemed to be getting more irritated.

The said girl merely turned around in her bed and gripped her blankets.

"IA I SAID WAKE UP!" The sleeping girl's sheets were torn from her death-grip and IA sprung awake immediately, jumping from her bed, hands in front of her to reach for the items on her bedside table.

"Wah, wah, chill now, IA, and uh, sorry?" The same voice that had awoken her from her...rather distressing sleep commented with a hint of fear lacing the words. IA visibly relaxed and released her held items. The girl turned around to glare at another girl behind her.

SeeU coughed awkwardly and mumbled, "Anyway, Lily wants you to come down for brunch now. It's...already past noon, you know."

She received only a nod as the only sign that the girl was listening to her. Without looking back, SeeU walked out of the room quickly, her movements stiff as a robot. She always dreaded waking IA up; she feared what the girl would do when she was disrupted from her rest, especially when she herself lost control and ripped away the blankets.

IA glanced back at the now closed door. The blonde was...scared of her? She tilted her lips up, unable to suppress the slight urge to smile sadistically at the thought of an older girl scared of her, a nineteen-year-old girl scared of a petite sixteen-year-old girl? How...unusual. _I suppose it's because of me having...a rather...crude 'job', especially me being rather good at it,_ IA wondered as she sauntered down the hall, hands in her skirt's pockets.

* * *

"IA, you're finally here," Lily exclaimed, her hands holding up a plate of roast beef. IA merely nodded again, and settled down on her chair, ignoring the looks others gave her. The girl glanced around the table, scrutinizing its occupants. There was Teto, holding her French bread as usual, looking rather weary; Tianyi, who was babbling on and on to a rather poor Oliver, talking about her homeland's foodstuff and culture; Piko, who was arguing with Yuuki over sweets...and some others she forgot the names of. There were just too many people here, too many to remember the names of. She remembered when she was young, she had a perfect memory...No, IA shook her head. She would not remember those times. She wasn't supposed to remember the times when she was...a carefree and happy child, for goodness's sake! She had long sworn not to ever find her emotions again. They were locked deep inside her heart, the key long forgotten.

IA poked at the food in front of her, not feeling hungry after the nightmare she had yesterday night.

"IA, remember what you have tonight, 'kay?" Lily winked at her, but said girl gave no response at all, except for a shifting of her position, before she suddenly stood up and left the dining hall.

Lily shook her head. She really didn't understand that girl and her thoughts sometimes.

* * *

**Well, now that was...short...I was trying my best to make IA...mysterious-ish and ****cold-ish. I wonder if I failed...Most probably.**

**Reviews please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I totally forgot about this ****fan fiction. *facepalm* So yeah. I tried my best with this chapter! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Vocaloid. Daaarn.**

* * *

The moon was a bright silver orb, hanging on the raven sky. Curtains of silver moonlight spilled onto windowsills, illuminating peaceful, sleeping faces. Star clusters glittered in the night sky like shining jewellery on black velvet. All was silent, safe for the chirping of the crickets and the quiet footfalls tapping along the tiled roofs.

IA searched for the mansion, fingers wrapped deftly around her fan, ears listening for any signs of life, or anything out of the ordinary. She reached the looming building and jumped lightly from the roof, landing softly on the soles of her feet, barely making any sound.

The blonde girl quickly hid behind a pillar, avoiding the watchful eyes of the first pair of guards. She then worked her way around the guard posts carefully, and arrived in front of a dark door. IA carefully inched the door open, and edged in the dim room cautiously.

Smirking slightly (and applauding the target for his worthless guards), she snapped open her metal fan and aimed for exposed neck of the bed's sleeping occupant – only to find her hand being restrained by another hand. IA quickly whipped her head back and jumped back, away from the bed (her long hair almost slapped the person's face in the process).

He was a black-haired male, with honey-yellow eyes, and pale skin; skin almost the same shade as hers. He stood up from the now frumpy bed (so he was the one covering up for her target, IA mentally noted with distaste) and strode forward with large steps; he was skinny, but fit, IA observed with the slight hint of panic lingering somewhere at the back of her mind.

This observation of hers was a habit, no, more like an instant reaction, when she saw someone. It was done unconsciously, her brain gathering data without IA telling it to. That was also one of the many reasons why she was favored and fawned over all the others in the underground world.

She quietly edged backwards when he got in her range of attack. She didn't want to hurt anyone who wasn't related to her assassination target, but with this boy who appeared a bit younger than her...she couldn't tell whether he was working for the target, or that she just happened to make a mistake of which room.

IA immediately scratched out that thought. It was practically impossible that Teto's information gathering skills had gone awry; she knew and relied on the red drill-head for accurate and up-to-date information. Teto would never make a single mistake; the girl took much pride in her hundred-percent accurate info. So that meant that he was one of those worthless people working for that corrupted official.

Upon thinking of that, IA's guard shot up, and she took a fighting stance, her fan snapped open, held in front of her like a shield. She racked her brains as she tried to recall all the information she had read about her target. The boy in front of her didn't seem to be in the files. Or maybe she just didn't read carefully; it had been night then, after all, and she had been weary.

The boy let a deep chuckle; IA immediately stiffened, her brain back from informative mode to alert mode again, and narrowed her eyes. He laughed again at her wariness. "Hey, are you gonna kill me?" he mused. "Do you even bother to know the names of people you're going to kill?"

"No, that's useless." IA replied coldly, the iciness of her voice very much in contrast to the boy's warm tone. He held up his hands in front of him in mock hurt. "Aww, that's so sad! Why that cold tone?"

"Enough of this talk. Where is he?" IA was losing her patience with the boy. He treated this as if it was a _game_. A game of killing, a game of hide-and-seek. And the blonde neither had no time for his games, nor the patience.

"Hmm? Oh, you mean the dude who lives here? I killed him." The boy dismissed the official lightly with a mere wave of his hand, slender fingers forming a loose fist. A light wave of shock jolted through her at the news of this sudden...interference of her mission, IA had to admit that.

"Well then...I suppose you know the consequences?" she asked, her face still blank as a sheet of paper, not betraying any of her emotions. The boy laughed again. He had a rich voice, the girl noticed, and he seemed to laugh a lot. Another piece of information safely slotted away in the recesses of her brain.

"Why, my. I didn't guess that you would realize so quickly that I had been waiting for you, hmm?" His honey eyes twinkled; with what, IA didn't know. She frowned deeply, faint lines creasing her smooth forehead. "Cut the nonsense and tell me what you want with me, boy," she spoke sharply, quickly. Her fan was still snapped open, the metal edges gleaming menacingly in the lustrous moonlight, and she held it up threateningly.

"Hey, first, I'm not 'boy'. I have a name, y'know?" he rebutted innocently, pouting slightly. Seeing no reply from her except for a slight shifting of eyes, he continued. "The name's Rei. Rei Kagane."

IA frowned again. She'd never heard of that name before – she was certain that she had memorized _every single person _in the country_, _from Teto's files. And she was certain that this Rei Kagane was a citizen (from his name). So why wasn't there anything records about him?

She took note of this.

"Hmm, and about how I killed him-" IA took careful note of this piece of information. "Can't tell ya. Sorry!" IA swore under her breath. The night was quiet, and Rei heard her. He merely laughed again as a response.

IA didn't know what this feeling was – a scratchy, uncomfortable feeling that gnawed at her insides; she wanted to kill this boy and get it over and done with – annoyance. The blonde laughed in her mind. Annoyance? She hadn't felt the feeling this strong for years – the last time she had felt that foreign feeling, it was when she was very, very slow in training her skills.

The blonde frowned, debating whether to take this boy back to base for closer inspection – like an object – when he suddenly moved towards her. Out of reflex, she dodged, reached to the back of his neck, and then hit a pressure point. He flopped like jelly into her waiting arms.

IA sighed. Looks like she had another problem in her hands.

* * *

Rei groaned, stretching his arms – only to find them bound to his sides with metal chains. He let out a short bark of laughter. So they thought that these mere chains would keep him pinned? A sly smile played on his lips, as he leaned back against the cold wall of the room he was in. _No matter, I'll let them play a little while. _

He took in his surroundings. He was in a glass room (seriously?), and there was a tray of food, which included a glass of water and a...weird thing that was made of two pieces of something brown and... meat? Rei chuckled lightly; so they thought he could eat without his arms? He wasn't some awesome person who could eat without his hands. Besides, he didn't trust them enough to eat something that was offered to him. Outside the glass room, there was just a blank wall. His room was probably part of a corridor, Rei guessed.

One side of the wall had a TV and the opposite wall had a big fluffy couch. _Well, at least they know how to treat people properly. _Rei sighed in desperation when he realized he couldn't very well just break out of these chains and just flop down on the sofa and start watching TV without a care in the world. Speaking of TV...how many episodes of his anime did he miss?

The fourth wall had another glass door (do they love glass _that_ much?). However, he couldn't see through the glass. _Well, darn. Looks like they have something they're not going to show me. _Rei sighed again, curiosity buzzing and urging him to check out what was behind that door. He ignored that nudge. He knew what he should and shouldn't look, and his gut feeling told him that it was the latter.

Rei closed his eyes, tired, when suddenly a flash of blonde, silver and light pink invaded his mind without permission. Almost immediately, his eyes snapped open, his mind musing over something again – this time the strange girl he met at the mansion.

He was telling the truth then, about him killing the dude. He could see her screwing her eyebrows together in an attempt to figure the reliability of it, and that thought made him almost want to laugh out loud.

She was pretty, he noticed at first glance; the way she leapt from the bed (and him) was graceful, like a lone bird in flight. Her hair was an interesting color...it was blonde and pink and silver, all at the same time. She seemed to be older than him, by two years at most, but he was half a head taller than her – after all, he was already fifteen! Her skin was pale, easily as pale as his, and seemed smooth, though he was sure that she had suffered a lot through her training.

How he wished to just bury his face in her silken blonde (let's just leave it at blonde than, he decided) hair, and simply trace his finger over her smooth skin! Those big baby-blue eyes framed with long eyelashes; soft, kissable lips – Rei snapped himself out of his thoughts, his face reddened. _Stop. Thinking. About. It. Right. Now. Damn. It._

His attention swerved back to the door at the end of the room – where he saw the blank wall – when it clicked open.

* * *

**Hahaha, cliffhanger!**

**This fic's update won't be regular. This story's actually a bit of a challenge for me - gotta search up all the stuff about the 'underground world'. Haha.**

**Reviews, nya~**


	3. Chapter 3

**I think I like this story a lot. As well as the cool IA here. **

* * *

IA shut the door, resisting the urge to slam it. She sighed, almost able to picture that _damned _smirk of the director in her head.

"_You are going to take care of Rei Kagane, or whatever his name was. After all, you brought him back, so do take responsibility." _

The blonde frowned. She had only expected to bring him back, and let the others do the rest; she hadn't expected to get herself in this tangle. _ Stupid director, ordering others around while he sits in his swivel chair._

Walking along the twisting and turning corridors, IA paused before a junction, pondering. _Now then...which way am I supposed to go again? Left or right? _The labyrinth could be so confusing sometimes, even to her. It was such a pain; however, it could be pretty useful sometimes, when unwelcomed visitors let themselves in. These winding hallways trapped the intruders pretty efficiently. But then again, it was only _sometimes. _

And this was definitely not one of those sometimes. Finally deciding to go left, she nearly bumped into a redhead. "Teto? What are you doing here?" If she remembered correctly, Teto's room was one floor down. The blonde's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the redhead. Her room was the only room here in this corridor, so...

"Ah, well, I uh, went the wrong way...My sense of direction is really bad, y'know? And uh, excuse me, but I need to go now." With that, Teto pushed past the blonde. IA frowned after the girl's back; she didn't trust her. As a matter of fact, she didn't trust anyone.

What was Teto doing here...? The only reason she could think of was that the girl had come for that Kagane guy...

Shaking her head, IA walked towards her room. Perhaps she was just over thinking things; Teto could be just lost. After all, it wasn't like she herself had never gotten lost before. The blonde placed her hand on the knob and readied herself, exhaling deeply. Time to deal with Rei Kagane.

* * *

Rei wasn't stupid. He could see from the moment the blonde girl stepped into the room that she was terribly annoyed. After all, he saw everything that happened from the glass door. And he was sure that the girl also knew he saw, from her deep scowl.

And he knew that it was because of Teto Kasane.

"What's up?" He teased, eyes twinkling with mirth. She scowled in response and stalked up to him. Rei expected her to stop, but she just turned and opened the door in the room. The girl must have been searching in her room for something, Rei guessed. She wasn't very discreet when fumbling for an item, from the constant crashing sounds coming from the room.

A while later (she seemed to have finally found it), she exited the room and plopped down on the sofa in front of him. She twirled a pen in her slender fingers and tapped it against the clipboard she held in her hands. "Rei Kagane," she regarded coolly, tilting her head towards him.

"Yes?" He smiled sweetly up at her and she frowned. Rei sighed and pouted. "Aww, such a lovely lady, and I don't even know your name!"

"IA," she replied curtly, staring at him. Rei shivered slightly under her gaze; IA had a piercing look, as if she was searching deep into his soul. He didn't like it, and averted his eyes away. He heard her sigh irritably, and she talked. "So now I'm going to question you, and you better answer truthfully."

Rei snapped his attention back to the blonde before her. "What if I don't?" He challenged her, and he saw a hint of a frown before her poker face slipped back on.

"I will find out the truth, someway or another." He chuckled at her straightforward answer. IA raised her eyebrow at his chuckle and shrugged it off. Rei smirked slightly. This girl was really interesting; she was one of the first to be _completely _immune to him.

"Fire away, then," he leant back against the wall, preparing himself for the questions.

* * *

IA closed her eyes, and rubbed the area between her eyebrows. An hour had already passed and all the information she had managed to retrieve was what his favourite food was, what he was doing in the (dead) official's mansion (to kill him), and a bunch of other useless stuff. He was tight-lipped about other things, especially about his family. Annoyed, she had retreated to her room to think over things.

_Annoyance? _IA smiled coldly. That was the second time she felt that foreign emotion. How _wonderful_, yay – note the heavy sarcasm. She only experienced such _useless _things around Rei Kagane. Maybe she should get rid of him – not killing, she reminded herself – and hand him over to Teto for gathering more info.

Teto was so much better at this. The blonde's eyes snapped open upon thinking about the redhead and she started musing over the French bread lover. She couldn't help but think about what had occurred earlier; Teto was such a...bad liar. _ End of story. I am not going to think about this anymore. My head hurts. _

With that, she strode to her room door and opened it – only to see that Rei Kagane sitting on her sofa and watching TV. In a flash, IA was behind him, her metal fan on his neck. He seemed to have noticed her presence (not surprising, since metal felt cold on warm skin) and turned his head around, greeting her with a cheerful "Hello!"

"How...how did you find my TV remote?" IA frowned. Since he had requested to be released from his binds, she had allowed. _Besides, I don't think he'll make it past the labyrinth. _But she hadn't let him anywhere near her TV remote (which was in a secret compartment under her sofa, along with some other things).

"Ahh, well, intuition! Mine is five-star!" Rei grinned cheekily up at her, mentally glad that she didn't chop off his neck with that fan. IA snapped her fan back, and grabbed the remote before switching the channel to another one.

Rei pouted, seeing that his anime was cut short by a supremely boring news channel. The newscaster was ranting on about some idiotic stuff about the recent corruption incidents. What a waste of time. The black-haired teen yawned.

"...There has been a murder at Senior Minister Dell Honne's mansion. His maid found him dead in a small room. His head was sliced clean off his body, and the murder is said to be gruesome. Police believe that this murder is connected with the recent chain of brutal homicides, where all the victims were charged for corruption. They urge any eyewitnesses to contact them as soon as possible, via xxx-xxxx xxxx..."

"I'm bored. Can I go out?" IA glanced briefly at Rei Kagane, only to see him yawn. She frowned. Only Dell Honne's murder wasn't by her hands; the others were. And here the killer was, sitting on her sofa with such foolish carefreeness. Didn't he understand that he was being hunted for? And here he was, talking nonsense about going outside. _What an irresponsible brat. _

She sighed. _And I'm supposed to take care of him? Don't kid me. _IA took a look at the clock, to find that it was dinner. That Kagane guy sure had slept for a long time. She stood up, grabbed her captive and her fan, and dragged him out.

"We're going for dinner." She saw his golden eyes widen at the thought of food, and he strained against her vice-like grip. IA growled lowly and positioned her metal fan at the back of his neck. He immediately stopped his straining, and pouted cutely at her.

IA ignored him and continued walking behind him, her fan still against his neck.

* * *

**I just realised I sort of made Rei an otaku-like person. Ah wells. **

**Reviews, nya~**


End file.
